This invention relates to a system for fabricating micro-structures utilizing exposure beam lithography over non-planar surfaces of the micro-structures.
Lithographic techniques have been utilized for some time in the manufacture especially of integrated circuit boards and related products. The products manufactured, of course, have typically included planar surface areas to which the lithographic techniques were applied. Such techniques have proven extremely effective in the precise manufacturing and formation of very small details in the product. However, attempts to apply such techniques to other than planar surfaces have proven difficult, if not unachievable, to the present time.
With the development of very small (termed "micro") mechanical devices and elements, such as screws, pins, cutters, sensors and actuators, motors, and medical devices, to name a few, the ability to fabricate detailed features of such devices and elements in an efficient and precise way is greatly desired.